Ravioli

For my birthday, my MIL got me a pasta roller, which, besides making chocolate ribbons, can also actually make pasta. So I've been experimenting a bit. I like a stuffed pasta, and I love the process of making it. The first one I make was a plain pasta, stuffed with roasted red peppers and caremelized onions, and a pesto sauce. the second was spinach pasta.

Halfway through I had to cut it into thirds, as it was getting too long.
I made a simple filling; ricotta, parmesean, s&p.

The first time J. complained about there not being enough filling, so I used a larger scoop this time. After an eggwash painting I folded the entire sheets in half, and then cut them apart with a pizza cutter. For the sauce I had some tomato sauce in the freezer made from the farmer's market. If I remember right; tomatoes, onion, garlic, oregano, and thyme.

Sorry I don't have a finished product picture. We got to eating rather quickly, and it was delicious. Next stop: tortellini!

Pickles!

I made pickles, because i love food preservation. 1 qt. Ball jars. The photo was taken on our roof, mostly because I like the urban/produce contrast, and I've realized the light is much better than inside.

From the left:

1. Broad beans and purple string beans with onion, garlic, celery seed, mustard seed, and pickling spices.

2. Rainbow carrots with dill, garlic, celery seed, mustard seed, pickling spices.

3. Fennel with orange zest, orange segments, dill, and black mustard seed.

4. Orange cauliflower with cumin seed, coriander seed, fresh ginger, and minced garlic.

5. Roasted beets with rosemary, lemon zest, and sliced ginger.

The center ones are in an antique milk crate we bought in Warren, RI last winter. It is well sized to the quart mason jars. In 2 weeks I'll taste them!

Evolution of a recipe

There is a pizza we've been making since before I knew how to cook. It is one of the few recipes my non-cooking J. has, and comes from her mother.

Originally it was: Sauté a red onion, add some minced garlic, a box of frozen chopped spinach, and cook until the moisture is gone. spread on a Boboli crust and top with crumbled gorgonzola and chopped walnuts.

Somewhere along the way we put some mozzarella on it. I'll confess that I prefer the grocery store block. It melts way better and doesn't release all the water that fresh mozzarella does.

J. wanted it for dinner on her birthday, so I went shopping. Our local grocery was out of Boboli, so I figured I'd just make a crust, as I had the time. Simple flour, water, yeast, salt, and a little olive oil. It came out great, and J. says we are never going back to the prepared crust. And what I'm most proud of is I made the crust dough without a recipe.

Let's see where this pizza goes next.